Primate adaptations and evolution in the Southern African Rift Valley

Gorongosa National Park in central Mozambique offers an unparalleled setting for the study of primate adaptations to complex and highly dynamic environments. Located at the southern end of the East African Rift System, Gorongosa hosts a mosaic of forests, woodlands, grasslands, swamps, rivers, and a major lake, Lake Urema, which fluctuates extensively with the seasonal cycles (Figures 1 and 2).1 Renowned biologist E. O. Wilson has described Gorongosa as “ecologically the most diverse park in the world.” 2 The park is home to five species of nonhuman primates, among them 219 troops of baboons,3 whose phenotypic diversity suggests an extended history of admixture between chacmas (Papio ursinus) and yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) (Figure 3).4 With its dynamic mix of environments in the African Rift Valley, and highly adaptable primates, Gorongosa brings to mind the vegetation mosaics in which Pliocene and Pleistocene hominins evolvedWenner-Gren FoundationCarr Foundationgovernment of Mozambiqueinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio